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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. face — part of the head
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spring — the season
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. rush — hurry
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. game — a match
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. game — wild animals
  19. face — to confront
  20. mine — for digging
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. dip — to sink
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com